Holidayitis struck our household this weekend, stealing my motivation and rock hard self-discipline like a thief in the night. Or maybe it’s just this damn cold I can’t get out from under. Either way, I’m not feeling up to my usual chipper/snarky Jekyll and Hyde routine, so I’m going to attempt some distraction tactics. Namely: look at the pretty pictures and find yourself so bedazzled by eye candy that the thin content and writing for this post completely escapes your attention. Sound like a plan? Let’s do it.
If you’ve never seen the photographs of Erwin Olaf, let’s just say that he’s like David Lachapelle, Pierre et Gilles and Desiree Dolron all rolled into one nifty little package. Does that help? Check out some images from one of his earlier series, Hope.
All the careful lighting, set staging and posing of the models leads to a feeling of aloofness, of disconnectedness. It’s as if the entire human emotional experience is learned rather than innate. Instead of displaying vulnerabilty, Olaf’s subjects manifest emotion as an icy, carefully constructed veneer of downcast eyes that stand in for real feeling.
His series Rain displays a similar lack of sentiment in sentimental situations. All the subjects exude a mannequin-like blankness that belies the context of the situations they appear in:
Naturally I saved the best of last. Olaf’s series Grief again deals with the flattened complexities of the human range of experience, but set against the most fabulous backdrops that any decor junkie would kill for.
Is it odd that the beauty of each shot is heartbreaking while the subjects’ playacted emotions leave one cold, or was that Olaf’s intention all along?
I find meaning in these images when pondering the tight control and scripted nature of public emotion in Western culture. Monumental events are ritualized and sanitized for your protection, leading either to private breakdowns or an unshakeable numbness.
Olaf’s photographs are a reminder to think and feel with authenticity. Something to remember during the holiday season.
Stay tuned for another post on photography later today that I promise will be day to the night of Erwin Olaf’s work. It’s all about contrast.
No related posts.
I think every culture has a pattern of scripted grief – it makes me think of the ancients rubbing ashes on their faces and tearing thier clothes, or the practice of hiring professional mourners in eastern culture.
I think it’s a human need to take the large and uncontrollable and manage it through ritual.
Interesting photos.
Stunning backdrops. Reminds me of American Beauty.
I got the St. Olaf’s thing before you explained it.
HG, did you, like me, spend many an hour bonding with the Golden Girls?
ps: thanks for the congrats!
Stephanie, incisive analysis, as always. I never knew they hired professional mourners in eastern cultures…?
That’s why I love blogging: I learn something new every day!
Totally weird, just did a post about Erwin Olaf a few days ago, saw his show at a gallery this weekend, isn’t he amazing?
Oh man, that’s what I get for not doing the blog rounds on the weekends… awesome that you got to see his prints in person!!!
Wow, Erin, any last shred of holiday hope and happiness I had has now vanished.
Kidding. I would be most excited to find the boxer print under my Hanukkah bush.
Wait…that doesn’t sound right.
I know, I know. I tried to do better on the next post… If I could just stop SNEEZING.
Yea, verily, I also lust after that boxer print. I’ll leave the rest to imagination.
This artist is interestiing, but I think this artist is deeply depressed.
Welcome Bonnie! Maybe he is, or maybe he’s just very Dutch
Check out his self portrait for any further evidence you can gather from his demeanor:
http://art.webesteem.pl/16/olaf_en.php
Beautiful and empty at the same time – but in a good way. It looks like he could have shot these on the set of Mad Men.
Thin content and writing? Are you kidding? Of course why should anyone be surprised that the standards around here are high, when this is the work you do when ill!
Been thinking about a lot of things lately, depression due to reading David Foster Wallace, and also the masks that people wear from trying to rationalize inauthentic, confused American living. This is yet more food/fuel to the fire.
WPZ, I think I love you… and not just for the compliment.
Lovely images. The lighting in impeccable, especicially his skill at integrating the people into their environment to seamlessly. His lighting reminds me of Platon, but I prefer these shots of people in an environment.